Jerri Schlacter has had a tough time, but the spirit in her voice seems to speak otherwise.

Jerri is on the left side of this picture in Hawaii with her daughter. This was taken while Jerri's life was still smooth and calm. Before she had to make one of the greatest commitments of her life.

With a soft-spoken and uplifting voice, Jerri begins to tell the story of how her and husband first met.

“I managed a convenience store just outside my home town in California. Mark was one of my vendors, (he was actually one of the big guns).”

“When he came into the store, my co-workers and his co-workers knew that there was something between us. We would exchange glances, talk, and smile at each other. They knew they had to get us together.”

“One night, they actually arranged it so that he would pick me up for an evening out with his whole store crew, which I didn’t know about. After he picked me up, we both knew that it was the start of something special.”

Besides being a super sweet guy, Jerri noticed that Mark loved taking her out to dinner. In fact, Mark took Jerri out to dinner a little too much.

In their first year of dating both Jerri and Mark put on a lot of weight, and decided that they needed to look for an appropriate weight loss diet.

“We tried a few weight loss programs, but most of them had too much preparation involved and were very inconvenient.”

Even though losing weight was important to both of them, Mark had another important thing on his mind. He wanted to make his relationship with Jerri official.

“Mark proposed to me through a call on his cell phone. I said to him, “You are either proposing to me right now, or you want a business merger.” I told him, ‘you need to take me out somewhere and propose to me the right way.’”

Mark proposed to Jerri the right way over a romantic lunch. They eloped that weekend, and began living the good life together as husband and wife.

The good life became short-lived once Mark’s health took a turn for the worse. Because he was overweight, he passed away from health complications after only being married to Jerri for eight years.

“For at least a year after Mark’s death, I turned to comfort food and dug myself into a hole of depression. I was physically and mentally sick, and it came to the point where I had to see a doctor for all the physical pain I was going through.”

That day in the doctor’s office forced Jerri to make her biggest life-changing decision.

She was well above the average weight recommended for her height, so her doctor was forced to give her a disheartening diagnosis.

“The doctor told me, “If you don’t start losing weight within three months, I will be forced to put you on medication because your blood sugar levels are that high. You need to do something now.’”

Other than the initial inspiration from the doctor that day to change, Jerri also had her niece’s wedding to attend.

“I said to myself, ‘I want to look good for that.’”

After being in the blues and eating her way to becoming a diabetic, Jerri started researching “weight loss programs” in Google.

Since Jerri was living alone with her dog, she needed to find a weight loss diet that was convenient and easy to stick with. After doing some research in Google, she came across bistroMD and started researching the meal plans they offered.

She ordered her first week of meals from bistroMD, and has been on the program since July of 2010. After a year of feeling hopeless, Jerri found a weight loss diet she felt she could stick with.

“When I started the program, I weighed 220 pounds and now I weigh 200. It’s amazing how much energy I have, and I have started exercising regularly for the first time in my life.”

Not only is Jerri having successful weight loss, but she also feels like for the first time since her husband’s passing she has the energy and inspiration to keep going.

Because she used to be so self-conscious about her weight, Jerri never stepped foot inside a gym. Now, she feels great, and has even joined a boot camp at her company gym that encourages others to get on the right track of living healthier.

“Pound by pound, I get more motivated,” says Jerri. “Especially after I look at a photo of my old self on vacation in Hawaii.”

Since starting bistroMD, Jerri has never had to look like she did in that photo.

When asked what her favorite bistroMD meals are Jerri replies, “I’m partial to the beef bourignon and all the fish dishes. I love the fish dishes because they are drizzled with the most delicious sauces.”

Her favorite thing about bistroMD?

“It’s saving me,” she replies.

If you have a story like Jerri's that you want to share, we encourage you to become our friend on Facebook and post your story on our wall. Who knows? We may be calling you to feature you next!

To check out bistroMD's Facebook profile, click here.